Union to Northampton County: Approve arbitration award

The group representing 60 court system employees files a civil lawsuit.

Members of Northampton County Council shown listening to a citizen address… (Denise Sanchez/Morning…)

May 26, 2011|By Jenna Portnoy, OF THE MORNING CALL

A union representing 60 employees in the Northampton County court system wants a judge to force County Council to approve an arbitration award that officials rejected last month, a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday says.

The American Federation of State Council and Municipal Employees court-appointed professionals unit includes court administration, adult and juvenile probation and domestic relations employees.

A three-person labor panel of union, county and neutral arbitrators held a hearing in October to set terms of a contract retroactive to the start of 2010. A few months later it issued an award.

Council rejected, 6-2, the award at an April 14 meeting. Ann McHale and Lamont McClure, the only Democrats on council, voted 'yes.'

Director of Administration John Conklin told council at the meeting that the three-year contract would cost taxpayers an additional $400,000 over the life of the contract, the lawsuit says.

The contract called for an average rate increase of 3.5 percent, he said. Workers agreed to contribute an additional one-half percent of their salaries toward health care costs, he said.

Councilwoman Peg Ferraro at the time called binding arbitration "a powerful weapon."

"What's the matter with a wage freeze?" she said. "The teachers are taking it. Anyone who's in financial trouble is grateful to have a job."

Two weeks later council solicitor Phil Lauer issued council a written opinion advising it to reconsider the matter. Council could only reject the contract if paying for the award required a legislative action, such as raising taxes, his opinion states.

Council might be able to make a case for rejecting the third year of the contract, but any rejection should be "preceded by a detailed discussion and analysis of the cost, and budgetary consequences," Lauer wrote.

Council on May 5 rejected, 5-4, a push to reconsider the award, and tabled an attempt to sever 2012 from the rest of the award, the lawsuit says.

The union makes the case that the county can afford to cover the cost of the award.

The county has more than $60 million in savings, most of which has been set aside for other purposes: $14 million to buy out of a bad investment deal called a swaption, $25 million in a financial stabilization fund and $7 million for this year's countywide budget shortfall, the year-end financial statement shows. That leaves $16 million for unexpected costs, such as union arbitration awards and emergencies.

County Executive John Stoffa and the nine-member council are named as defendants. Stoffa declined comment; Council President John Cusick did not immediately return a request for comment.